Today, via a press release, AT&T announced one addition and one change to its smartphone data plan offerings. First, the addition. AT&T will now offer a mobile hotspot plan that will provide users with 4GB of monthly data to use via their handset or while connected to their handset as a hotspot. The plan will be available February 13th and will retail for $45 per month. Second, AT&T is revising the data allowance on its smartphone tethering offering. Previously, users could pay $20 per month for the ability to tether their smartphone to their computer; no additional data was provided for this fee, you simply shared your 2GB monthly allowance with your computer. Now, those who pony up the $20 will be given an additional 2GB of bandwidth (for a total of 4GB monthly) to play with. Not bad AT&T, not bad at all. Customers who are already enrolled in the tethering plan will receive a text message from AT&T around February 13th alerting them of their newly increased data pool. Hit the jump for the full press release. More →

And we thought AT&T was slow! News is now trickling out that T-Mobile pack rats are in for a treat this coming Friday. Apparently, OS 4.5 for the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 is fiiiiiiiinally going to be released. We don’t exactly know why it took so long for RIM to put together a build that T-Mobile would approve but given the age of the handset, we’re sure it wasn’t exactly a priority. So, 8120 owners, here’s what you’re in store for:

It pretty much took forever…… But the day is finally upon us. Each and every BlackBerry user on AT&T with a supported device now has cause for celebration. That’s right people, the long awaited and highly anticipated OS 4.5 roll out is now a done deal. Every BlackBerry handset carried by AT&T that supports OS 4.5 now has access to it on RIM’s AT&T downloads page. Here’s a quick list for you:

Pearl 8100

Pearl 8110

Pearl 8120

Curve 8300

Curve 8310

Curve 8320

8800

8820

8700

Done and done. AT&T had made OS 4.5 available for a handful of handsets late last year but many felt snubbed – and rightfully so. Problem solved and better late than never, right? If you’re holding on to an older unit because the Bold isn’t your cup of tea and the Curve 8900 is still MIA, at least now you can take solace in the fact that your OS isn’t prehistoric anymore. So what are you waiting for?